Weiner, Spitzer at opposite ends of polls

Mayoral lead vanishes for former congressman while ex-governor's comptroller bid gains ground

By Casey Seiler

Published 10:07 pm, Thursday, July 25, 2013

Albany

Two polls released Thursday show volatility in two New York City political races currently attracting interest in the five boroughs and far beyond.

An NBC 4 New York-Wall Street Journal-Marist College poll found former U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner's mayoral campaign flagging after Tuesday's revelations that he had been engaging in sexually explicit online exchanges as recently as last summer — a year after news of similar digital liaisons forced him to resign his House seat.

The poll of enrolled Democrats, conducted after the news broke, gave City Council Speaker Christine Quinn 25 percent and Weiner 16 percent of likely voters. Bill de Blasio, currently the city's public advocate, and former City Comptroller Bill Thompson drew 14 percent apiece, with the rest of the Democratic primary pack in single digits.

The poll contained better news for City Comptroller candidate Eliot Spitzer, showing him leading Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer 49 percent to 32 percent — almost double a nine-point Spitzer lead in a Marist poll from two weeks ago, just after the former governor joined the race.

But a Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday showed a much tighter comptroller's race, with Spitzer leading Stringer by just 4 points, 49 percent to 45 percent among likely Democratic primary voters.

In that survey, the gender breakdowns for both candidates were nearly equal, and equally divided: Among men, Spitzer drew 49 percent with 46 percent for Stringer; women opted for Spitzer 48 percent and 44 percent for Stringer.

The sample size for Democratic voters in both polls was similar: 551 for Marist with a 4.2-point margin of error; Quinnipiac polled 507 for a margin of error of 4.4 points.